Start with the questions your listeners ask
The episodes people share answer a question they already have. Collect questions from comments, messages and your own work. Build each episode around one, and ask your guest the follow-up questions a listener would.
Tap a question to see the video it becomes.
- The videoA beginner episode that becomes the one you link to most.
- The videoA strong clip: one mistake and one fix, in under a minute.
- The videoA guest's story, cut into short clips of each turning point.
- The videoA timely episode on news in your field, posted while people are talking about it.
Plan for clips as well as the full episode. Every strong answer of 30 to 90 seconds can become a Reel, a Short or a LinkedIn post.
- Full episodeFor YouTube and your website.
- ClipsOne idea each, filmed for vertical.
- TrailerA short teaser for every episode.
Set up the phones properly
Use the light you already have
Seat each person facing soft light: a window or a lamp in front of them, slightly to one side. Keep the light similar for every speaker, so the cameras match. Avoid a window behind anyone, which turns them into a silhouette.
Record at a time of day when the light won't change much over an hour, or close the curtains and use lamps, so the start and the end of the episode look the same.
Get clear sound in an ordinary room
Listeners stay for the conversation, so sound matters more than the picture. Record each voice separately if you can, with a clip-on microphone per person or each phone close to its speaker. Choose a small, furnished room and switch off fans and air conditioning.
Tick what you can do in your room.
Talk to each other, not the camera
- Look at each other
- Let answers breathe
- Ask follow-up questions
- Restart an answer if you stumble
- Talk over each other
- Check the phones mid-episode
- Tap the table or rustle notes
- Worry about the length
In a podcast, speakers look at each other, not at the lens, so it feels like a real conversation. Look at the camera only for the intro and the outro.
Don't worry about mistakes. If an answer goes wrong, pause and say it again. In the edit we keep the best take, remove the rest and trim long pauses, so the episode flows.
- Take 1Lost the sentence
- PauseStarted again
- Take 2Stumbled on a word
- Take 3Clear and calm
Agree the details with your guest
Tell guests how the episode and clips will be used, and get their OK in writing. Agree any topics that are off limits, and keep client names, numbers and addresses out of the conversation. If something slips in, we can bleep or cut it in the edit.
Send the clips and let the edit do the heavy lifting
Upload the original files from your phone to Google Drive, Dropbox or WeTransfer rather than sending them by messaging apps, which compress the video. In the edit we line up every phone and microphone, cut between speakers as they talk, clean up the sound, and deliver the full episode with captioned clips for social media.
- 01SyncEvery phone and mic lined up.
- 02SwitchCameras follow whoever is speaking.
- 03CleanSound evened out, noise reduced.
- 04ClipShort vertical clips with captions.
- 05DeliverFull episode, clips and a trailer.
If you'd like help setting up your first episodes, book a free consultation. We'll plan the setup with you, then handle every edit.